Happy Halloween!

 Friday began with play group at the hall. Our quiet little hamlet has had a recent boom in its birth rate. All of a sudden, there are a bunch of kids Little One's age. For a while, there were lots of kids (in the same age group as my two nieces), and now they are all teenagers. The township has been pretty quiet, until now. Now, we've got lots of little kiddies running around! Exciting!

 We got play group to return to our village. They stopped the program in our village a few years ago, because there just weren't any kids around for the service. I'm excited to say that it's back...and it is hugely successful!
 If you didn't know how much Little One eats at home, you would think that we never feed her. At least she didn't try to eat the Play Dough this time.

Some spooky "worms and eye balls" were made for the kids to play with. Of course, Little One had to eat them! After me repeatedly telling her not to eat the spaghetti noodles, I gave up. I realize how confusing it must be for a toddler. At home, I tell her "Don't play with your food. Food is for eating." At play group, it's "Don't eat the food! The food is for playing with". Poor kid.

Little One had a bowl of oatmeal with maple syrup (from our farm) and goat's milk (from our friend's farm), cheese, fruit (cut up apple, nectarine, strawberries, grapes, and orange) and she still wanted to eat everything she saw at play group! How she is so tiny is beyond my comprehension. 
 The kids played with the toys, had story time, sang songs, danced, decorated Halloween cookies, and had a blast. This photo below makes me cry. Just looking at it is like flash forward a few years and she's in school! Doesn't she look like a big kid here? :( I cannot tell you how emotional this gets me. I just gave birth to her the other day, didn't I? How can she be so grown up already?

 In the evening we had our third International Dinner Night. The theme was French Canadian. On the menu:
Maple Moose Stew
Cranberry-glazed Duck
Partridge and Beef Tourtiere
Smoked fish (bass and pickerel)
Poutine
Three Sisters Soup (and their red-headed cousin)
Scones
Vanilla ice cream and strawberries in a waffle bowl with homemade maple syrup
Pumpkin pie
Sugar tarts

 Our little chicken laying an egg. This was one of the funniest things I have ever seen! What a wacky kid I have! I wonder where she gets it from?

 The kidlets had fun. They always do.

Great friends, great food, great times!

Our International Dinner Night group consists of some really great friends (most are educators) and our spouses and children. In total, we are about 25 to 30 in attendance. It's a pretty large group and we have so much fun together!

 Adults and kids were all decked out in costume. Hubby went as Johnny Cash.

Me: What are you supposed to be?
Hubby: Johnny Cash.
Me: Who???
Hubby: You don't know who Johnny Cash is?!
Me: No.
Hubby: You don't know "The Man in Black"?
Me: Oh! Isn't that a Wil Smith movie?
Hubby: I can't believe you don't know who Johnny Cash is.

Oh, and apparently all toddlers really want for Christmas is a cat bed. See photo below.

Her First Time

 Hubby and I were supposed to go to a Halloween/Birthday party at my lovely friend, Maria's house tonight. We were pretty stoked. We haven't  had an evening without baby yet. Date night? What's that? I can't even remember what it was like before Little One came into our lives. What did we do with all that free time? Ha!

We even had babysitters lined up for the evening. Lola and Grampy (my parents) were more than excited to have Little One over for her very first overnight. She hasn't spent a night away from me since she was in the NICU!

Plans fell through with Hubby feeling too tired to go out. My parents said they still wanted Little One for the evening. I brought her over and she was so excited to see her Lola and Grampy. She didn't even noticed that I  had left.

I just called to check up on her and my Mom said, "She's fine. She's having fun. Don't call again." Hahaha!
I don't know who this is harder on. It certainly doesn't look like Little One's having a rough time being without her Mama!

That Time of the Year Already???

Every Fall, we get our family photos taken by the very talented people at PhotoCaptiva. I cannot stress this enough, but there's one thing having "nice" photos taken and another having "professional" photos taken. Not to sound snooty or uppity, but the proper equipment, knowing about lighting, angles, and composition  really make a difference.  It's always really interesting to see someone else's vision of how a frame should be filled or how to work with spaces. It's always fascinating to see someone else's perspective.

We have our family photo shoot once a year. Hubby goes along with it because he knows it makes me happy. I just love having those special moments captured. Little One isn't going to be little for much longer and I'd like to do this while she still lets us!

The photos were all taken on our property. We did the photo shoot in the "bush" to the left of our barn.

I can't believe how Little One has grown up so much in a year! Check out her face in the last photo. What a goofball! She's always trying to get people to laugh. Hmmm...I wonder if I've got a future class clown in the making? She's definitely an entertainer!

Fight For Preemies

Can you believe Halloween is just days away? With November fast approaching, I'm reminded of a really crazy, scary TERRIFYING, yet happy time of my life. November is the month when Little One canon-balled her way into our lives. Many of you read as we posted updates (in hopes that she'd hang in there a little longer).

Though I was on strict bed rest five weeks, she still came early. At 28 weeks gestation, our little preemie weighed 980 grams (a little less than 2 lbs, 3 oz). I've documented our life in the NICU here and shared our roller coaster ride, which I dubbed "our new sense of normal".

The one thing that shocked me was just how many tiny preemies were in the NICU with Little One. The rate of premature births has risen. In some cases, a reason for premature birth just was not discovered or was discovered too late. "While medical advances give some babies a chance of survival, for many babies premature birth is a life-or-death condition. Babies who survive can face serious health challenges and risk lifelong disabilities." (Quoted from here)


Little One will be 2  years old on November 11th. Though she has had no major medical setbacks, we still count our blessings every single day. How fitting that November 17th is the day dedicated to raising awareness of premature births?  Join the collective effort in raising awareness of premature births by checking out Bloggers Unite - Fight for Preemies and The March of Dimes - Prematurity.

I'll be blogging for preemies on November 17th. If you  have a special preemie in your life, I hope you will be blogging too.

The Sad Thing

...about living on an island far away from my family and friends is that Little One hardly ever gets to see our family and friends.

They don't get to see her grow up or see how funny she really is. She doesn't get to spend time with them or get to know what it's like living with lots of family around.
I feel like she is missing out on all our big family gatherings. She doesn't get to "know" or grow up with our loved ones. It honestly and truly makes me sad that she doesn't get to have that.

At least she has her grandparents here. She gets to spend time with them and she is very attached to them. We do have a great group of friends on the Island and I am thankful for that. We also have extended family here. The sad thing is that we see Hubby's sis and nieces as often as we see my family in Kingston, Toronto, and Montreal!

I know that we all get busy and wrapped up in our own lives. It isn't always easy to take time out and visit, write a letter/e-mail/card or make a phone call.

I don't know. I guess I'm just in a reflective mood today. I'm extremely happy with the life we have created. I love my little family, our home, our farming/country lifestyle, our friends, and the work we do.

I'm just sad that us being so far away, no one asks how Little One is doing or comes to visit. Then the thought occurred to me that even if we did live in Toronto, Kingston or Montreal, would we see our family more? Probably not. Life gets busy.

I am REALLY looking forward to spending Christmas in Kingston with my brother, sister-in-law, twin nieces and 3 year old nephew (and my parents and youngest brother). I'm so excited for Little One to spend Christmas with her cousins. I can't wait to spend time with my brothers. We'll be stopping by Montreal too to spend time with our family there.

I guess I just need a dose of my family in the city right now.

Why Didn't Anyone Tell Me That Being A Mom Would Be So Hard?

For 23 months I have lived in false security that Little One was the pillar of health. Some of Little One's buddies from the NICU have had a few setbacks with respiratory issues and whatnot. I counted my blessings each day that passed when Little One didn't get sick.

For 23 months she has been warded off influenza, RSV, and other ickies.

Until now.

We've all been sick for the past few weeks. Little One just never recovered. My gut feeling told me to take her to the hospital. Some people told me that it's just something her little system needs to go through herself. All kids get sick and just have to let their immune systems work it out. I totally agree with that. I do.

At the same time, Little One was a preemie and all I could hear in my head were the talks we had with doctors about how sometimes preemies have respiratory issues or if they get sick, they sometimes have a hard time bouncing back. My gut feeling told me to take her to the ER.

After three hours of being in the ER with her and her being under observation after being given an inhaler, we finally got to go home. The ER doc said to come back first thing in the morning for a chest x-ray and a visit with the ER doc again.

After yet another sleepless night (for Hubby, Little One and myself), I took Little One to the hospital again. There's just something so wrong about a toddler coughing so hard that it sounds like she's going to cough up a lung. It's painful to watch and to see.

The chest x-rays showed that Little One has pneumonia. She's on some strong meds and hopefully she'll be back to her normal, spunky, full of energy self again.

There's nothing more difficult than seeing your little toddler so sick and helpless. Wow. No one could have prepared me enough for this parenting thing! It's so much harder than I could have ever imagined.

My poor monkey. :(

Why Toddlers Amaze Me

Yes, it's the middle of October and my kid is dancing with her shadow, wearing nothing but a diaper cover and rain boots! What a nut!

Little One just turned 23 months old four days ago. To me, she is still my little baby. I think I've underestimated her ability to comprehend various requests and instructions. Her range of vocabulary has also hit me like a ton of bricks since I don't recall teaching her some of the words she knows!

Yeah, yeah. I sound like one of those gloating parents who boasts about how smart their kids are. Really, I'm not. I'm telling you that I am truly and honestly SHOCKED.

The other night, I was coughing up a storm and had a whole bunch of Halls wrappers on my lap. I don't know what possessed me, but I asked my toddler to "put these in the garbage for Mommy, please!"

To my surprise, she took the cough drop wrappers, and pitter-pattered to the bathroom, where she deposited the wrappers into the garbage bin. Whoa! What on earth? Where did she learn that? I totally didn't think she'd know what I was talking about!

She also shocked me by pointing to the moon and saying "moon", poking her belly button when asked "where's your belly button?", yelling "Baaaaaaaa!" when she sees a picture of a sheep in her books, and so on. She also says short phrases like "kiss baby", "up and down, up and down" (from The Wheels on the Bus), and "All done!" (when she's finished eating).

The biggest shock for me was seeing how she is with my Mom and Dad. Since I'm teaching ESL again, my parents watch Little One during the work week. I happened to catch some of their time together at lunch. Little One is awesome with my parents. She is so happy at their house. When she sees me, she's always so clingy and whiny. She claws at my pant legs with her arms outstretched for me to lift her up, and screams "Mama! Mama! Mama! Mama!"

Anyway, at home, when it's time for her to take a nap, we just put her in her crib and she goes to sleep. At Lola and Grampy's, they take her for car rides to get her to nap! Crazy! This one afternoon in particular, I noticed Little One start to rub her eyes. She does that when she's sleepy.

Me: I think Little One is trying to tell you she wants to take a nap.
My Mom: Yeah! Look at her!

Little One went to the other room, put on her boots, grabbed her raincoat, stood in front of Grampy and waited for him to pick her up.

My Mom: HAHAHAHAHA! Oh my gosh! I don't believe it!

Apparently, Little One now associates going out for a drive with taking a nap!

GAHHHHHH!!! The Giblets!!!

Norman Rockwell's Couple Uncrating Turkey (1921)

Copyright © 1921 The Literay Digest and Funk & Wagnalls Company

I was cooking up a storm for Thanksgiving dinner.

Turkey. Check.
Ham. Check.
Stuffing. Check.
Sweet potatoes. Check.
Corn. Check.
Mashed potatoes, veggie tray, salad, cranberry sauce, biscuits/rolls, fruit tray, apple pie, pumpkin pie. Check, check, check, check, check, check, check!

Hubby walks into the kitchen.

Hubby: Ummm...Did you take the giblets out of the turkey?
Me: Yeah. I'm using them to make the gravy.
Hubby: Those aren't giblets.
Me: WHAT!?!?!?
Hubby: Yeah. That's the neck. Giblets look more like intestines, gizzard, liver, and other visceral organs.
Me: OMG! OMG! OMG! (sheer panic, as there would be about 30 dinner guests in attendance)
Hubby: You cleaned the bird and checked inside the cavity, right? The giblets usually come in a plastic bag stuffed inside the cavity.

I started freaking out. To be honest, this is the SECOND turkey I have EVER cooked. I've only hosted Thanksgiving dinner once before. I was vegetarian for most of my Thanksgivings in the past (and now I'm married to a beef farmer)!

Hubby opened up the oven, took out the piping hot bird. Checked it. Nope. No giblets in there.

PHEW!

Now, the question is...What happened to the giblets? And, will I have Thanksgiving dinner done in time for us to get our annual family portraits done by PhotoCaptiva AND take our out of town guests sightseeing at the Bridal Veil Falls? Gahhhh!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian family and friends! What are you thankful for today?

Skin to Skin

I was recently asked to share some of our skin to skin photos for the development of educational materials for Mount Sinai Hospital. Looking back at Little One's earliest photos was bittersweet. I must have been on auto pilot mode (or maybe in denial), because I never worried once that Little One wouldn't be okay. Our days in the NICU were a roller coaster ride, but I just knew she would be fine.

I trusted her doctors and nurses to the utmost degree. I trusted that all would be fine.

One of the things I am really impressed with and thankful for is how the nurses kept encouraging me to do kangaroo care with her and to hold her skin to skin. I really do feel that this helped connect my preemie to me. We bonded, and that warmth of having her close to me really touched my heart. I treasured those moments so much, since it was nearly two weeks until I got to hold her.

Initially, it was a bit intimidating and I was afraid to hold that tiny, fragile, itty-bitty baby. I was afraid I'd break her. Honestly! She was only 2 lbs, 3 oz and full of leads, a CPAP, NG tube...It was all a bit daunting!

Her primary nurse told me to take off my shirt, tuck Little One underneath my hospital gown, and hold her.

It was the best feeling in the world. Over the course of her 70 days in the NICU, I looked forward to my special time with her. I nursed her, sang to her, read to her, and just held her. Those days seem so far away, and seeing these photos again after not seeing them in a long time just brings back those memories.I still can't believe she was so tiny or that we spent so many days in the NICU. Today, Little One is a very active, busy, bright, clever little 22 month old. It really is hard to imagine that Mount Sinai was our home for 70 days (well, I was there for a few weeks on hospital bed rest before she was born, so it was longer for me).

Getting bigger!

Hubby was scared to hold her at first. He said she was so tiny and so fragile. After his first hold, he was hooked! He also treasured his quiet time with her. Skin to skin is also important for Daddies! Here he covered her up with a little face cloth so she wouldn't be cold!
Many thanks to Mount Sinai, the NICU, the lactation consultants, and the Linden Fund. We wouldn't be where we are today if it weren't for all of you.

I'm Happy

This may sound really cheesy, but I woke up this morning feeling really blessed. Life isn't perfect, but it's pretty close! My house is always a mess these days. My 22 month old is constantly whining and clinging to me now that I'm teaching ESL again. She's also been keeping me up late and waking me up insanely early because she is cutting her molars. I'm having a hard time with lesson planning, researching, article writing, keeping the toddler happy, making sure all the household chores are taken care of, rushing home to cook supper, do dishes, do laundry and everything else.

Somehow though, I know everything will be okay. We've got a healthy, happy, kooky little girl whom no one believes was a preemie. She makes me laugh with all the funny things she comes up with.

She tries to use chopsticks to eat.

She "teaches" us to nod our head "yes" and then claps her hands emphatically and laughs.

At our friends' wedding last night, she was a dancing machine!

I'm in love with my little monkey. Oh, and with my husband too (of course)!

Though life sometimes gets a bit overwhelming, I'm fortunate and I'm happy.